Talking Plastic
The role of plastic in tea.
Teabags
Traditionally, (like many others in the industry), we used an oil-based plastic to heat-seal our teabags as it's sturdy and resilient.
Since August 2019, we have been working from our base in Newcastle upon Tyne to move to a plant-based, bio-based plastic teabag material, PLA.
All our teabags are now made using this PLA teabag material.
We believe that PLA is the most environmentally friendly and sustainable paper currently available, however we continue to monitor the market for other alternatives as they arise.
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Tea Packaging
At Ringtons, we have developed the Ringtons Way which involves vacuum packing at source to seal in freshness and flavour. We also pack our
teabags into a high-barrier foil packets, to help seal in the freshness. You can be sure that when you make your cup of Ringtons tea, it will taste as
fresh as the day it was packaged at origin.
We’re proud of the Ringtons Way and wouldn’t want to do anything that compromises the Ringtons quality our customers expect. That means that currently, many of our tea foil packets cannot be recycled. This is something we continually review, working closely with our suppliers as new recyclable materials are developed and become available.
Whilst we find the ultimate recyclable tea foil material that doesn’t compromise our product quality, we made the decision a few years ago to convert our packets of 100 teabags into two 50 teabag packets. By removing this layer of packaging, we reduced packaging waste by 12
tonnes a year.
Your questions answered...
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Why is there plastic in tea?
The tea industry uses heat-sealed teabag paper which contains a small amount of plastic required to seal the bag together and keep the tea leaves inside. Approximately 1% of the total weight of a teabag is plastic. Historically, this plastic sealant contained polypropylene and/or polyethylene, which are oil-based plastics.
What's the solution?
To use a more sustainable plant-based, bio-based plastic called polylactic acid (PLA) to bind our tea bags.
Where are we now?
All our tea bags are now made using PLA to bind the teabags together. It's been a long process to ensure that the tea bags remain robust enough for a good cup of tea, but don't worry, the tea tastes just the same.
Does it affect the taste?
Absolutely not!
How will I know if my tea has the the new PLA seal?
All Ringtons 50-packs are now made with the new PLA material.
How do I dispose of these tea bags?
We recommend that our teabags are disposed of via local-council food waste collection schemes where they will be disposed of at an industrial composting facility.
If you don’t have a local-council food waste collection, the UK government are committed to ensuring all UK households are offered a collection by March 2026. We welcome this news, as it means our customers will be able to dispose of our teabags responsibly.
Unfortunately they can't be composted at home. You can however remove the tea leaves from the bag and add them to your home compost bin, and then dispose of the tea bag paper separately alongside your normal household waste.